


Not the Sentimental Type

by fanfoolishness (LoonyLupin), LoonyLupin



Series: Starshine Over Beach City: Moments from Steven Universe [12]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Episode: s05e29-32 Change Your Mind, Gen, Motherhood, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 04:51:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21130946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/fanfoolishness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/LoonyLupin
Summary: Priyanka Maheswaran has long prided herself on keeping her emotions in check.  But a mother's love can only grow, and sometimes it expands to people she never anticipated.Like the Universe boy.





	Not the Sentimental Type

Priyanka Maheswaran is not a sentimental woman. She never has been. At their wedding, she was the one who dabbed Doug’s tears with the edge of her sari. When Connie was born, Priyanka felt as emotional as she ever had in her life; that is to say, she cradled her daughter in her arms, pressed a kiss to her dark hair, and swore fiercely to protect her. But the emotions she felt were secondary to the enormity of the task at hand: to raise Connie well.

There are times, though, that despite her innate lack of sentimentality she feels the faint tug of nostalgia. When Connie plays a beautiful concerto on her violin, sometimes Priyanka feels a stab of sorrow, remembering the gap-toothed girl with a gleaming new violin nearly half her size. She doesn’t miss the screeching notes, but rather Connie’s little smile of concentration, focusing so hard on every note. She chuckles at herself for these indulgences.

The preteen years are strange, she must admit. The Universe boy throws her at first… especially given Connie’s lies. She understands the impulse, though; wouldn’t it all be simpler if he was just a normal boy who played the ukulele instead of violin? Instead Priyanka learns in bits and pieces of gems, of fighting, of magic (though as she heatedly tells Doug, it’s simply science they don’t understand yet).

One night Connie is quiet. She finishes her pre-algebra homework at the kitchen table, but there is something complicated on her face, in the set of her mouth.

“Mom,” she says suddenly. “I’m really, really glad you’re here. I’m pretty lucky.”

And that’s when Priyanka learns about Rose Quartz.

* * *

Priyanka and Doug find Connie on the beach after the return from space. She’s exhausted, she’s beaming, she’s thoughtful. Priyanka can tell that despite the happy homecoming that something has happened. A mother always knows.

She folds Connie in her arms, her embrace a shield against a world that harbors things she will never understand. Her daughter leans against her, safe again for the moment.

“Hey, what about your old dad?” Doug asks, blinking back tears behind a big smile. Connie laughs and leaves Priyanka for her father.

Priyanka sees him then, the boy with the curly hair and a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. She hopes that in time Connie will tell her what happened to them. She has never seen Steven look this way before.

For a moment, he is alone. The others had surrounded him, hugs all around, but in the excitement, he has pulled away.

“Steven,” Priyanka says quietly, walking up to him.

“Hi, Dr. Maheswaren.” He pulls himself up straight, doing his best to seem polite.

He always tries so hard. She hasn’t given him enough credit for that, perhaps. She wonders suddenly what he looked like as a little boy, trying to learn the ukulele; wonders if his little brow furrowed and his lips pursed the way Connie’s did once upon a time.

She considers. She’s not the sentimental type.

But she is a mother.

She leans down. It’s not the way Rose Quartz might have hugged him, of that much she is sure; Priyanka’s hug is human, a little stiff, a bit unsure. Steven relaxes in her arms, resting his head against her shoulder. She thinks she hears him sigh. That’s human, too.

“We’re glad you’re _both_ back,” says Priyanka. And she holds him for just a moment more, this strange boy with a destiny, and she swears to protect him too.

**Author's Note:**

> We have one more season of Steven Universe. PLEASE LET THIS BOY GET ALL THE HUGS.


End file.
